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Background

The Moriori were the indigenous people (tchakat henu) of Rekohu, now known as the Chatham Islands, in modern times part of New Zealand. The Moriori migrated there from New Zealand some time between 1400 and 1600. They share common ancestry with the Maori, and are Polynesians, but their own distinct culture developed over the period of 400 years of isolation. Their first contact with the outside world was in 1791, when a British ship stumbled upon the islands. They lived in relative peace with both Europeans and Maori until 1835 when the islands were invaded by Taranaki Maori tribes. A fifth of the population of Moriori were slaughtered, and the rest taken into slavery. Over the next 30 years of slavery the population sharply declined, and eventually the last full-blooded Moriori, Tommy Soloman, died in 1933.

Before contact with the outside world, the Moriori had adapted to their harsh environment, and eked out a subsistence living based mainly around fish, seals, and birds. A unique feature of their culture was a taboo against the killing of another human. According to their ancient traditions, a chief named Nunuku stopped warring parties from fighting to the death, as he realized this was counter-productive to survival of the small population on the islands. men still fought, but only until blood was drawn – then they stopped.

When the Taranaki tribes commandeered a British ship to the Chathams in 1835, the Moriori at first welcomed them. The Maori initially ignored them, as they explored the islands. Concerned by a possible theta, the Moriori held a large gathering, discussing whether or not they should fight the Maori (who they greatly outnumbered). The older chiefs prevailed, citing Nunuku’s law of non-violence. The Maori, on the other hand, did not hold back: they massacred 300 Moriori (men, women and children) and held a large cannibal feast in accordance with their tikanga, or fighting customs. The treatment of the survivors was horrendous. The Moriori continued to be treated poorly, being regarded by most Europeans as an inferior race, low in intellect, lazy, and degenerate; of course the Europeans were seeing only the sad remnants of an oppressed people. In addition to these in justices, the land courts of the 1870s awarded the vast majority of the land to the Maori, and not to the Moriori.

It was not until late in the 20th century that the true story of the Moriori became better known, thanks largely to Michael King’s book Moriori: A People Rediscovered (1989). The marae on the Chatham Islands has been restored, and in 2005, relatives of Moriori submitted a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal.

A Survivor from Rekohu was inspired by the story of the Moriori and commissioned by Alexa Still, for flute, piccolo and Maori flute. It is based around the life of a Moriori named Koche who witnessed the 1835 massacre, survived years of slavery under the Maori chief Matioro, and made many attempts to escape from captivity.

Eventually he did escape, permanently, on a ship to the USA where he told his story to an American lawyer. His whereabouts after this are unknown. The music recalls three main passages from Koche’s life:

his childhood on Rekohu in the days before the invasion
the massacre of 1835
slavery and escape

These are framed by four little melodies (variations on a theme) played on different Maori instruments, acting as meditations on the events. They are each labelled ‘Kopi Grove’, after the sacred place on Rekohu where chiefs would meet and ceremonies were held.

• Ritchie, A.: A Survivor from Rekohu; computer-set 

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• Ritchie, A.: A Survivor from Rekohu; computer-set 

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• Anthony Ritchie: A Survivor from Rekohu 

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• Anthony Ritchie: Octopus  Year: 2011 

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When Virgil penned his great story of national mythology for the Roman state and empire, he called it The Aeneid, since the poem recounts the travels and adventures of Aeneas, a latter day Ulysses. As Aeneas and his fleet are sailing from Carthage toward Italy they encounter a violent storm and seek shelter in the protected harbour of a small island off the coast of North Africa. Here rocky outcrips provide a haven. Aequora tuta silent Virgil writes – the water is calm and silent.
Friendly sounds echo back and forth across the water between the cliffs.

Notes taken from Toru, Atoll CD (ACD 143)

• Toru - Chamber Music by Martin Lodge  Year: 2011 

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‘blessed unrest’, was one of six short pieces commissioned by the New Zealand Trio as “attention-grabbing”, programme opening pieces. They wanted something that would start a concert “with all guns blazing”; a piece that ought to be “high-impact, dynamic and edgy”. It took a long time until I found something that I thought satisfied this demand, as I didn’t want to write an obviously motoric pulse-based piece. I wanted to create a sense of pent-up energy and its release in bursts. Many approaches were tried and rejected and while this was going on I came across the quote that gave the piece its title. I don’t think my dissatisfaction with earlier versions of the piece was either ‘queer’ or ‘divine’ and I dislike the lofty tone, but parts of Martha Graham’s statement nevertheless resonated with me: “There is vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not yours to determine how good it is; nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is ever pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction; a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”

• Gardner: blessed unrest; computer-set 

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• Gardner: blessed unrest; computer set 

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• Rimmer: Burning the Calories; computer-set 

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• Rimmer: Burning the Calories; computer-set 

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• Rimmer: Burning the Calories; computer set 

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• Rimmer: Burning the Calories; computer set 

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• John Rimmer: Burning the Calories; audio 

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• Audain: Compendium Improvisation 

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The Concerto was written in January 2006 as fulfilment of a long standing promise to write a piece for saxophonist Simon Brew. What began, in concept, as a modest “concertino” grew into a five movement “grand” concerto of nearly 30 minutes, which makes it, according to Simon, one of the longer concertos in the Alto Saxophone repertoire; I’m still not quite sure how it happened, it just kept on growing.

The Concerto was commissioned by the Wellington Youth Sinfonietta, is dedicated to Simon, and was premiered in May 2006. The first two movements, including some revisions, were later presented at the NZSO-SOUNZ Readings on 6 November 2006.

The first movement is an accompanied cadenza for the saxophone which outlines the major thematic material for the concerto. This movement reoccurs, in modified form, as the central episode of the last movement. The second movement is in traditional concerto sonata form. The Concerto unashamedly follows classical structures throughout. Avant-garde it ain’t!

• Vinten: Saxophone Concerto; computer-set 

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• Vinten: Saxophone Concerto; computer-set 

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• Vinten: Saxophone Concerto; computer-set 

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• Michael Vinten: Saxophone Concerto 

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• Biddington: Concerto for Clarinet and Strings; facsimile 

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• Biddington: Concerto for Clarinet and Strings; facsimile 

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• Biddington: L'Estro Armonico  Year: 2006 

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• Biddington: Concertos for Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, Viola and 2 Concerto Movements  Year: 2010 

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• Body: Fire in the Belly; computer-set 

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• Body: Fire in the Belly; computer-set 

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• Jack Body: Fire in the Belly; audio 

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• Jack Body: Fire in the Belly; video 

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The association and rich sounds of a Malay gong, Korean gong, small Japanese gong, Japanese bells (like large sleigh bells), small Chinese gong, a necklace of very small bells worn in the Chinese dragon dance, tubular bells, tamtam and piano (inside out), form the basis for Gong Agong. Many of the instruments were collected in Hong Kong and Malaysia.

The Gong Agong is the large gong in the Malaysian Terengganu Joget Gamelan. It literally means ‘King gong’ and the instrument plays an important structural role in gamelan music, marking off the largest sections. This role is retained in Gong Agong. Rhythmically and texturally, the piano reflects and imitates some of the CD sounds before embarking on an interlocking section which draws on fragments of a Malay Terengganu gamelan piece ‘lagu’ Perang.

The percussive and digitised sounds were created from recordings of improvised performances by the composer which were edited in Protools, convolved and mutated with piano impulses in SoundHack then imported back into Protools for compositing. This process was repeated until a structure was created which was then used as impetus for the piano composition. From then on in, the process became very collaborative with the two composers editing their components as required. Gong Agong was one of the three finalists in the Music Nova International Electroacoustic Music Competition in 2006 (Category B: Compositions for acoustic instrument/voice/ensemble and electroacoustic media).

Sounds for the soundbed (CD) were originally recorded in the Main Studio, Music Area University of Western Sydney, Australia.

• Blom: Gong Agong; electroacoustic part 

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• Blom: Gong Agong; computer-set  Year: 2009 

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• Diana Blom: Gong Agong 

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• Psathas: Helix; computer-set 

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• John Psathas: Helix  Year: 2011 

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